Why Me?
by TXMedic
Summary: Sometimes, being the smallest can have painful consequences.


_Castle and the gang belong to ABC. I'm just borrowing them briefly and promise to return them._

** Why Me?**

The house should probably have been condemned years ago. If they thought the McClaren mansion was dilapidated, that was nothing compared to this pile of rubble. Detective Kevin Ryan played the beam of his flashlight around the room and searched the shadows. The sooner they found what they were looking for, the sooner they could leave the disgusting death trap.

They had fanned out to search the filth-ridden rooms for a witness: a 16-year-old runaway prostitute who had possibly witnessed the murder of a fellow street-walker. Instinctively terrified of the group of detectives when confronted, she'd darted into the darkened home and disappeared.

Ryan could hear his partners, and Castle, yelling for the girl. Beckett and Castle were on the floor below him with Javier searching the one above. Taking a deep breath to add his own yell, Kevin coughed on the mouthful of dust he inhaled. Ugh. He felt the need for a tetanus shot just from walking down the hall. "Sarah! We're not here to arrest you. We just want to help."

His pleas were echoed above and below by the others. Kevin muscled open the door to the next room, which hung from one old rusty hinge. Playing the light around the gloom, he tread carefully over the debris-strewn floor. He had just finished searching the small closet when a shout from the floor below had him hurrying, albeit somewhat carefully, back out into the hall.

"Sarah, stop! We're not going to arrest you. I just want to ask some questions!"

Even from the second floor, Det. Ryan could hear Kate Beckett's heels clicking on the old wooden floor down below as she clearly chased someone across a room. Kevin picked up his pace and headed for the stairs, hearing the thumping from Javier hurrying down from the floor above. The two detectives hit the bottom of the stairs just as a piercing scream ripped the air, along with the sound of Castle shouting for Beckett.

Heart in his throat and weapon in his hand, Kevin was only a step behind his partner as they followed the sound of Castle's yells to a large parlor near the back of the house. The writer was lying on the ratty remains of a rug, peering down through a hole in the floor. Castle looked up with terrified eyes at the two detectives.

Javier Esposito was the first to find his voice. "What the hell, Castle? What happened to Beckett?"

"They fell through the floor." Castle turned his attention once more to the gaping hole and waived his flashlight into the darkness below. "I can see Beckett a little. The girl is mostly covered with debris. Neither is responding to me."

Kevin could hear the fear in Castle's voice and it was jarring. The writer was notoriously unflappable. "Castle, there has to be a staircase somewhere that leads to the basement. Let's try the kitchen."

Backing carefully from the edge of the hole, Castle nodded stiffly and climbed to his feet. Kevin led the way to what he assumed would be the door to the kitchen. He could hear Javier, trailing behind Castle, calling in the incident on the radio.

The staircase had been where Kevin had logically suspected it would be. Castle, desperate to check on the woman he loved, brushed past the detective and jerked open the door. He directed the flashlight to the wooden staircase and stepped down. The first step cracked under the writer's weight, throwing him forward. Kevin lunged after him and grabbed Castle by the back of the shirt. The writer's weight pulled him forward and he feared they'd both go tumbling down the stairs.

A strong hand snatched at Kevin's belt and that was enough to shift his center of gravity backward, halting his and Castle's forward momentum. Once the writer's feet were firmly planted once more on the worn kitchen linoleum, all three men stared down into the darkened stairwell. Castle shifted his weight from foot to foot, his anxiety ratcheting upward.

Esposito reached out a reassuring hand. "I radioed it in, Castle. Help will be here soon."

"What if she's not breathing? Or she's bleeding out? We _need _to get down there."

And there went any voice of reason Javier might have had. Kate Beckett wasn't just his partner, she was like a sister to him. He glared at the half-rotted staircase, glanced at Castle then turned to his partner with a speculative look. Castle caught on and turned to stare at Ryan.

Seeing the twin looks of appraisal, Kevin shifted uncomfortably. "What?"

Javier gestured to the stairwell. "Give it a try, bro."

Was he serious? The matching looks of eager hope on both faces clued Kevin in that, yes, his partner was serious. "Why me?"

Castle gestured vaguely between all three of them. "You're the smallest."

With a sigh, Kevin shook off his jacket and removed his tie. If things went south, the last thing he wanted to do was end up hanging himself by his own tie. He remembered other times when those words had been uttered to him in the past and shuddered.

"Just so you know, that sentence has never ended well for me."

* * *

"Why me?"

"You're the smallest."

Two heart-shaped faces smiled back him in eagerness and encouragement. It was Christmas Eve and a pile of presents waited under the tree. Ryan tradition meant they opened presents to each other the night before Christmas. Christmas Day was for Santa. Tradition also meant that they didn't get to open those presents until after Christmas Eve dinner. His sisters, Megan and Fiona, were dying of anticipation and wanted to know how much longer until dinner was ready.

"Dada said he'd smack the next person who asked." Kevin was only five, but he knew enough to not bother their father after a threat like that.

His oldest sister, Megan, laughed and gave him a nudge in the ribs. "Go on, Kevin. You're the youngest, so you won't get in trouble. Just go ask."

Fiona threw in her two cents. "C'mon, Kevin. Please?"

Huffing a sigh, Kevin gave in. He always seemed to give in to their pleading. He left their room and marched down the hall. Less than a minute later he marched back. He stomped into the room, shutting the door behind him. Glaring up at his sisters, Kevin rubbed at the stinging sensation on the back of his left leg. "Da said we better not ask again."

Fighting back a smile at the indignant look on her little brother's face, Megan gathered Kevin into a hug. "Sorry, Kev. I didn't think he'd really smack ya. C'mon. We'll play games until dinner time to take our minds off the gifts. You can pick out the game."

Still absently rubbing his leg, Kevin's face lit up. "Chutes and Ladders?"

Megan gently slapped Fiona's shoulder at the younger girl's groan of dismay. "Yes, Kev, Chutes and Ladders."

"Awesome!" Pain forgotten, Kevin ran to his room to grab his favorite game.

* * *

"Why me?"

"You're the smallest."

Glancing at the narrow basement window then back at Billy Naylor, Kevin considered his options. He wasn't sure how he'd ended up in this stupid predicament. All he'd wanted to do was spend an afternoon playing with his best friend, Tony. But Tony had dragged him a few blocks down the street to meet up with four older boys from their school. Boys who had been none-too-friendly with Kevin in the past. Billy was their unspoken leader and the biggest bully in the lot.

Kevin had been torn between leaving and wanting to spend time hanging around with Tony. He'd finally stayed with his friend, hoping the older boys would leave. Instead, they'd ended up in a narrow alley by Jacob's Grocery. The older boys had plotted a way to steal some candy bars from the basement storage. All they had to do was get someone inside. Through the narrow window.

Now, Kevin knew what they were planning was wrong. Not only was stealing against the law, it was a sin according to the nuns. He wanted no part of it and said as much. Billy stepped into Kevin's personal space and glared down at the smaller boy, poking the nine-year-old's bony chest with a long finger. "You get in there and get me some candy, or I'll pound the both of ya every day at school for the rest of the year. You get me?"

Glancing over at Tony, Kevin's bright blue eyes widened at the fear on his friend's face. Tony pleaded silently, begging Kevin to do it. Billy's threat was serious. And there were still three months of school left. With a sigh, Kevin nodded and leaned down to test the window. If he was lucky, it would be locked. Luck wasn't with him that day, since the glass lifted easily at his tug. Glancing back once more at Tony, Kevin hoped his friend truly appreciated what he was about to do.

Getting down on hands and knees, Kevin backed his legs through the open window and wriggled backwards until he was hanging from the sill by his hands. He took a deep breath, let go, and dropped the short distance to the basement's concrete floor. Fortunately, the light was on, so it was easy to read the boxes stacked on the gray metal shelves along the walls. Kevin headed over to the brightly printed containers of candy on a back shelf and stretched up on his toes to reach the chocolate bars. He didn't hear the footsteps behind him over the crackling of candy wrappers.

"How did you get in here?" A large hand grabbed Kevin by the shoulder and the boy shrieked in surprise and fear, dropping the candy bars to the floor. Mr. Jacob, a thin older man with graying hair, narrowed his dark eyes in anger at the boy he'd caught trying to steal candy.

Both could hear the sudden slapping of feet on concrete outside the open window as Tony, Billy, and the others escaped down the alley. Kevin swallowed against the fear clogging his throat and stammered out an apology, trying to explain to the poor grocer why he'd tried to steal his candy when Kevin didn't even want it. Mr. Jacob dragged the little thief upstairs to his office, called Kevin's father and waited.

The anticipation had been worse than anything else. Waiting in the tiny closet-like office, sweating in fear, knowing he was in serious trouble and picturing the disappointment on his parents' faces. He wondered if it wouldn't have been better to just risk him and Tony getting beaten up every day.

His father had eventually showed up, endured Mr. Jacob's lecture about his son, apologized stiffly, grabbed Kevin by the arm and marched him home. Up the stairs, through the apartment, and straight to his room.

All in all, Kevin was pretty sure the whipping he got from his father had been better than getting pounded in the school yard for three months. Probably.

* * *

"Why me?"

"You're the smallest."

At fourteen, Kevin Ryan was getting tired of hearing that phrase. He shaded his eyes against the glare of the sun with long thin fingers, looking up into the limbs of the tall tree. The brown leather football was stuck in the branches of a limb far enough up the tree that they hadn't been able to knock it down by throwing rocks.

"Stupid older kids. Why'd they have to do that?"

Dropping his hand, Kevin lowered his gaze back to his friend. Paul Ayers seemed near tears. He, Kevin, and their two friends Tony and Manuel, had been minding their own business killing a few lazy hours on a Saturday, tossing around a football in the park. Only to have their fun interrupted by a group of college aged boys who'd grabbed the football and laughed as they played keep-away with Kevin and his friends. The frat boys had finally grown bored with the game, lobbed the ball high into the tree and left.

Tony and Manuel continued to try to hurl rocks up to the ball, in hopes of knocking it loose. Paul shifted from foot to foot, practically wringing his hands. "My dad is going to kill me. I wasn't supposed to take it out of the house. It's his college game ball."

Focusing his troubled gaze on Kevin, Paul begged his friend to get the ball. "Please, Kev. You're the only one that has a chance of getting high enough to get it. Please? He'll kill me if I don't get it back."

Once again wondering how he always got talked into things he knew were risky, Kevin squared his shoulders and nodded. "Okay, Paul. Fine. I'll get the ball. But you owe me for this."

"Anything, Kev. Seriously. I'll give you my new pocket knife, even."

It was a nice pocket knife. A real Swiss Army one, with all kinds of blades. Kevin had been a little envious when Paul had showed it to him. "It's a deal."

It wasn't a hard climb. The tree was old, with a thick trunk and a lot of limbs. As he got closer to the ball, Kevin began to worry about how thin the limbs were becoming. And how far away the ground was now. He finally reached the right branch and carefully stretched his gangly length out along the rough bark. He inched his way toward the football, extending his arm as far as could. When he'd crept out as far as he dared, Kevin was still a foot short of the ball. He looked down through the leaves to his friends below.

"Hey, Paul! I'm going to try to just jiggle it loose. I can't get far enough out."

Paul's reply shouted up through the limbs. "Okay, Kev. Thanks!"

Raising his upper body, Kevin gripped the limb with both hands and gave it a shuddering jiggle. The ball wobbled, but held fast. Narrowing his eyes in determination, Kevin tried again. The ball shifted and started to slide out of the branch's grip. Grinning, Kevin gave the limb one more jerk and the football fell, bouncing down the limbs to Paul's waiting arms below.

"You did it! Thanks, Kevin!"

"No sweat!" Kevin started to inch his way backward, but froze at an ominous creak and snap behind him. He debated for a split second on whether to continue backward, or try to grab the limb above him. His hesitation was his undoing. The limb broke and he fell.

Kevin never did remember much about the fall, the trip to the ER or the hours spent getting his arm set and wrapped in a cast. He did remember the lecture from his mother, the coddling from his sisters and the exasperated shake of his father's head. He still had that pocket knife.

* * *

Hoping this incident would end a little better than the previous ones, Kevin gripped his flashlight tightly. He glanced once more at the worried faces of Castle and Javier, which was enough to make him push aside his trepidation. The detective pressed his shoulder against the wall at the top of the stairs and stepped down, skipping the first step. He gradually shifted his weight until he was sure the second step would hold. Releasing the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Kevin moved the flashlight to his left hand and gripped the railing with his right. He cautiously made his way down the stairs, testing each step as he went.

In the end, it wasn't so much the half-rotted steps that did him in, but the railing. Kevin was about half way down the stairs, his flashlight playing across the debris-strewn floor to the two still bodies, when the step beneath him cracked and broke as he shifted his weight. With a startled yelp, the detective grabbed the railing to regain his balance. The termite-riddled railing broke under his weight and he fell off the staircase.

"Kevin!"

"Ryan!"

Twin shouts from the doorway above shook Kevin out of his surprised daze. Coughing out a mouthful of dust, he shouted up to the other two. "I'm fine! You guys better stay up there. That staircase is a deathtrap."

"You sure you're okay, bro?"

Although he couldn't see his partner's face from his position on the floor, Kevin could clearly hear the worry. "I'm fine, Javi. Give me a minute to check on Beckett and the girl."

"Hurry, Ryan." Castle's voice pitched higher with anxiety.

With a groan, Kevin rolled to his hands and knees. As soon as he put his right foot on the floor and tried to stand, he clamped his mouth shut against a shout of pain. Shit, that had hurt. Not wanting to worry the already freaked-out writer and his partner, Kevin simply crawled the rest of the way to the two women, brushing aside broken boards and torn strips of old rug.

The girl was breathing, but her left leg bent in a way it was never meant to go. Suppressing a shudder at the gruesome sight, Kevin shifted his attention to Beckett. He brushed off some dirt and gently pushed aside the strands of hair partially covering her face. She, too, was breathing. His careful pressing and prodding didn't detect any obvious bone fractures or pools of blood, but the rising knot on her temple gave Kevin a good idea as to why she was still unconscious.

Kevin shifted his weight so that he was sitting on the cold concrete floor next to Kate. A wave of relief washed over the detective. Beckett was injured, but alive. He blew out a breath, releasing some of his tension and yelled up to the two men waiting for news. "They're okay! Sarah has a broken leg. Beckett's got a knot on her head, but nothing seems broken or bleeding."

"Are you sure?"

Knowing how worried Castle was, Kevin let the skepticism in the writer's voice wash over him. "Yes, Castle. I'm sure. She'll have a nasty headache when she wakes up, I bet, but I think she's fine otherwise."

"Thanks, Ryan."

The relief was evident in Castle's voice, making Kevin smile. The things he did for his friends. The shifting of wood on concrete drew his attention and he swung his flashlight toward the women. Beckett squinted against the glare and brought her hand up to shield her face.

"Ryan? What the hell happened?"

Lowering the flashlight's beam so that he wasn't blinding her, Kevin scooted closer. "The floor was rotted. You and the girl fell through."

Beckett's eyes quickly sought out their witness and settled worriedly on the still figure. "She alive?"

"Yeah. Leg is broken, but the rest seems okay. Hopefully she'll stay out of it until they get that bone set." Kevin was grateful, looking at the bent leg, that he never remembered much of his own experience.

Kate struggled to sit up and Kevin leaned over to give her a hand. Once he was sure she had her balance, he let go and settled back on the floor. Beckett's eyes wandered around the gloom and tracked back to her junior partner.

"Where are Castle and Espo? They okay?"

"They're upstairs, having a minor freak-out."

Beckett's dirt-covered face crinkled with a smile, and she turned toward the staircase to yell up at the others. "Castle! I'm fine, so quit worrying."

"Becket?!"

"Yes, Castle. I have a pounding headache, but I'm fine."

"Oh, thank God."

Smiling at the relief evident in Castle's words, Beckett rubbed at her aching head. She tried to squint through the gloom to get a better look at Ryan. "You guys radio this in?"

"Yeah, Javier took care of it. Castle didn't want to wait. Was freaking out that you were bleeding to death or not breathing, so I came down to make sure you were okay. Relatively speaking."

"Why you?"

She could sense his shrug more than see it. "I'm the smallest. The staircase wouldn't hold their weight."

It made sense. Ryan was definitely the thinnest of the three men. Feeling a measure of strength return, Beckett held out her hand. "Help me up?"

"Ah...maybe it's best if we just sit here and wait for the medics. I hear the sirens."

Something in his voice made her grab the flashlight from his hand and reflect the beam back at him. Her junior partner was covered in dust, jacket and tie missing. Kevin had a long scratch down his face and his mouth was pinched. "What happened?"

Blinking against the brightness, Kevin grimaced. "The railing broke. I fell off the stairs."

"And?"

"Broke my ankle?"

Beckett sighed and scooted over to sit next to her partner. "So I guess we'll both be enjoying a little vacation after this."

They could hear the thump of boots on the floor above and Javier's shout to the firefighters to come to the kitchen. Kevin leaned his shoulder against Kate's and sighed.

"I know what I'll spend my 'vacation' doing."

"What's that?"

"Eating as many triple cheeseburgers as I can. This whole being-the-smallest thing is going to kill me one of these days."

Beckett's laughter echoed in the small basement, making Kevin smile. Broken ankle aside, at least he'd been able to make sure Kate was okay. Maybe being the smallest wasn't always so bad.

END


End file.
